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Valencia attempt to hijack West Ham's £7m move for defender

Valencia have not given up hope of signing Cheikhou Kouyate - despite the fact the Senegalese defender looks set to join West Ham.

The Hammers and the Spanish club have been locked in a battle to sign centre-back Kouyate for a number of weeks, but Sam Allardyce’s side appear to have won the race having agreed a £7m deal with Anderlecht and flown the defender over to London to undergo a medical earlier this week.

But Spanish newspaper Superdeporte claim Valencia still maintain hopes of hijacking the deal, although their success will depend on whether they can persuade Anderlecht to wait a little while longer to formalise an agreement.

Valencia reportedly have cash-flow issues, despite the fact they were taken over by Singapore businessman Peter Lim in May, and cannot make the same financial assurances to Anderlecht that West Ham are capable of making at the moment.

Anderlecht want to sell the player as soon as possible so that they can press ahead with their own summer transfer business, but Valencia believe that the player would prefer a move to the Mestalla ahead of Upton Park and will make one last attempt to sign the 24-year-old.